Barça and Borussia Dortmund will face off in search of a spot in the champion semifinals. The two teams will meet in April after a quarterfinal draw, having both overcome Benfica and Lille respectively. The first leg will be played at the Olímpic Lluís stadium on April 9, while Barça will visit the German team at Westfalestadion a week later on April 15. In this edition, they have already faced each other in the group stage, with CULR prevailing 2-3.
How is Dortmund Doing?
In the group stage, Dortmund finished in tenth place with 15 points, scoring the second most goals in the competition. Their tenth-place finish allowed them to challenge in the knockout round, where Sporting was eliminated by Portugal by a 3-0 aggregate. With the ticket secured for the knockout stage, Lille was overcome by a 3-2 aggregate and now finds themselves in the quarterfinals of the competition. This was achieved after drawing at home (1-1) and returning to Lille, despite Jonathan David’s initial goal, thanks to Emre Can and Maximilian Beier.
As for the league, the German team is not having a good season. Far from their usual top positions in the standings, the team is in tenth place with 35 points. Nevertheless, they have quality players and were finalists in the previous edition of the Champions League.
Guirassy and Adeyemi, Ones to Watch
These are the two most important names in the German attack. During the competition, Guirassy scored 10 goals in 12 matches for the German team. Meanwhile, Adeyemi, the 23-year-old forward, scored five goals in this edition of the Champions League. Despite an injury that sidelined him for two months, he still managed to emerge as the competition’s second top scorer. They are players to watch out for.
Barça’s Previous Advantage
In addition to this year’s encounter where Barça prevailed 2-3, they have met five times and Barça has not lost any of those matches. We have to go back to 2019, in the group stage. In Dortmund, the result was a draw, while Barça emerged victorious with a 3-1 scoreline.
The most significant encounter between Barça and Dortmund was in the UEFA Super Cup final in the 1997-98 season. At that time, equality was played over two legs, and Barça emerged victorious with a 3-1 aggregate score. In the first leg, playing at the Camp Nou, the Catalans won 2-0, while the second leg ended in a 1-1 draw. Now, it will be the first time they meet in a Champions League knockout stage, and the prize at stake is no small one. Nothing less than a ticket to be one of the top four teams on the continent.
